Jaded Aspirations
by Le Diable
Summary: Unmotivated and semi-retired, Jackie wonders where he fits into this new, softer, safe world. Uncle's shop is a quiet step down from Section 13, but with Jade starting middle school and Viper's frequent visits, things just keep getting crazier and crazier.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything from Jackie Chan adventures, although I did create the character of Delia.**

**Chapter 1**

Section 13 hadn't changed a lot in the last two years. It still looked far too big compared to the amount of people that actually worked there. It was still painted the same colour – a ghastly, nauseating shade that was probably supposed to be magnolia but had turned out pale, pastel orange. There were still posters here and there, half hanging off the walls, parading faded warnings and slogans such as "**ARE YOU BEING WATCHED FROM THE SHADOWS? Always check LEFT – RIGHT – UP – DOWN – BEWARE THE SHADOWKHAN" **and "**Never handle nitro glycerine in the main foyer**". A slightly smaller piece of paper, lined and bearing only a tiny sketch of what looked like a man in oversized pyjamas holding a bunch of crackers was stuck with a piece of blue-tack in between the male and female toilets, right where any curious soul could peek and probably guess what it was, given the vast history of all 3 previous Section 13 tenants.

Jackie sighed and removed the sketch from the wall, folded it up, and put it in his trouser pocket. Just _how_ long had that been stuck there? Probably at least 2 or 3 years given the presumed age of the hand that had more than certainly drew it. And why did nobody take it down? Why hadn't the wind just blown it off the wall? Why had a huge vat of corrosive acid not thrown itself at it?

"Jackie."

Jackie straightened up. If there was something else that certainly hadn't changed, it was the sight of Captain Augustus Black striding down the foyer with his bald head shining and big black coat billowing out behind him. Jackie couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at his lips at the sight of his old friend.

"Captain Black," he greeted. Black nodded in return, his straight, serious green eyes scanning the Asian's face.

"You look tired, Jackie."

"Ah-ha, well..." Jackie scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Things have been a little crazy back home. Jade has just started middle school and you know she can get a bit over excited about some things, sometimes..."

"Jades in middle school?" Black asked, frowning. "What age is she now?"

"She'll turn eleven in January."

"_Eleven_? God, I hadn't realised she was that old."

"Hmm," Jackie nodded, agreeing all too well.

"I mean... I guess it's pretty easy to lose track of time, after all that's happened... after all we've being doing." He tapped his knuckles on the metal railing of the balcony. "Things like kids moving school just slip out of everyday thought, huh?"

They both looked out over Section 13 – the solitary figures in white coats drifting along the corridors, the dull echo of the distant machinery being the only noise in the air besides the buzz of the air conditioning, working constantly to keep the underground warehouse cool as this San Francisco summer drew to an end.

"Why did you call me here then?" asked Jackie eventually.

"No particular reason," said Captain Black, shrugging one shoulder unconvincingly. "I wanted to know how my old friend was doing. How's early retirement working out for you?"

"I haven't retired," insisted Jackie. "I'm just... taking my profession down a peg or two..."

"By working in a rundown antique shop?" asked Black, raising two eyebrows. "After having been employed personally by the head of a faction of the secret service of the United States? An obscure faction of course, but the statement still stands."

"...It's not run down," Jackie said, avoiding eye contact. "We re-painted the sign, and Uncle just acquired a whole load of new artefacts from Suriname, and a few from The Grenadines..."

"Uh-huh."

"B-besides!" Jackie's voiced raised suddenly. "What is even the point of still being here? Captain Black, it's _over_. No more talismans, no more masks, no more Dark Hand or Demon Lords, no _J-Team – _so what would be the point in continuing to hang around here? I mean, what top secret missions could Section 13 be carrying out now? Anything more exciting than perfecting the jet-pack back-pack?" He scoffed; strange uncomfortable emotions coursing through him, causing him to momentarily disregard how rude his words were. He lowered his head onto his arms, and continued to stare without seeing out over the headquarters.

When Captain Black did not reply right away, he immediately felt ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Captain Black."

"No, Jackie." Captain Black shook his head. "You're right really. This Popsicle stand has had its time and, well, I sometimes have my doubts... over whether or not it's really my place to stay here anymore."

"Captain Black?"

He sighed, and something seemed to rest heavy across his brow. "Delia is pregnant."

The "Who?" had already escaped his mouth before he had even taken the time to think. Then the image of a much younger, less built Captain Black with his arm over the shoulders of a short, rather plump red-haired girl raised itself out of the jumble of his memories.

"Oh, _D-Delia_?" he corrected himself, his tone incredulous. "That was nearly fifteen years ago!"

"Hmm," Captain Black pressed his lips tightly together. "I know."

"And you're _still_ thinking about her?"

"She got married three years ago to some Puerto Rican guy." He chuckled humourlessly. "To think, I waited ten years for her to call me because I was too damn proud and now some goddamn Latino has come into the picture and messed it all up."

Jackie frowned. "It's not his fault, Captain Black."

"I know."

The uncomfortable atmosphere was one they rarely had together, and it made Jackie fidget awkwardly. Where was all this coming from? Captain Black hadn't been with Delia since his late twenties, having entered after military service after college, and, well, Jackie didn't know anything about the conception of Section 13, but he imagined from Captain Black's high position, he must have been there for a fair while.

"So, uh..."

"I called you here for another reason, Jackie."

"Uh..."

Coherence wasn't usually Jackie's strongest point, but he could feel himself started to feel a bit disorientated. Captain Black slid both hands into the pockets of his trench coat and sighed again.

"It doesn't really concern you, what I'm going to tell you, but Jackie you're..." he laughed and shook his head. "You're too damn considerate and... and _nice_; you're like everyone's caring old uncle. I feel like it's worth you knowing this."

Jackie waited patiently. But as Captain Black continued to stare out unseeing over HQ, he pointedly asked, "So, what is it?"

"Valmont is in hospital."

"Oh."

Jackie's first impression was relief. Captain Black didn't have any serious illnesses (that he was admitting to anyway), Viper hadn't been incarcerated (though he suspected this would actually be better for the majority of people in the world), and well, he couldn't imagine Paco or El Torro getting into any sort of trouble except for El Torro maybe overdoing it on the steroids. Valmont had almost vanished entirely out of his mind in the past year, only brief glimpses of his fall from grace, his unshaven face and ratty clothes, the look of shame behind those once arrogant eyes. It must've been hard for him, but he had hurt so many people in the past Jackie found it difficult to conjure up sympathy for his old nemesis.

Captain Black was looking at him now. Jackie suddenly realised his blank faced expression probably looked a bit callous (or mentally stunted).

"Uh, I mean, is he OK? What happened to him?"

"Stomach pumped, or so I heard. Apparently he drank himself into a stupor. He didn't give a name when admitted into A&E, but one of our agents spotted and recognised him."

"He drank himself into a stupor?" Jackie echoed. "That's, uh... not nice..."

"No."

There was another short silence. Jackie felt extremely uncomfortable with the line of conversation, the one before it, and the weird atmosphere between them. What was going on? The urge to turn on his heel and bolt out of there as fast as possible was rising swiftly.

"It's your choice whether or not you go to see him, of course. Just thought I should let you know."

"No, yes, thank you Captain Black."

He nodded sternly. He walked Jackie back up to the exit, almost entirely in silence, only asking him to wish Jade well in school on his behalf. Jackie was quite glad to leave, to be fair.

As he wandered back to the shop, he wondered whether he should buy some groceries on the way home. After all, Jade went through Coca-Cola like it was tap water, and Tohru had taken very fondly to rice cakes and raspberry jam (which tended to be finished pretty quickly). He meandered briefly through the supermarket, picking up 4 litres of coke for Jade, but not being able to find rice cakes. He tried to pay with his driver's license instead of his credit card, and once he left the store, the cashier called him back to give him the items he had left in the bagging area.

His head was blurred and busy, images whirling around of Delia's funny red hair-cut and her silly knitted jumpers; Jade when she was younger – pestering him to take her to Moose World; and _Valmont_, standing, looking over his shoulder at Jackie, his expression unreadable...

Jackie stopped in the middle of road, and yelped as a girl with a pram crashed into the back of his knees. Apologising profusely, he hopped into the shadows of a nearby alley and took out his cell phone. With a few moments hesitation, and no small of amount of resignation, he dialled all familiar number onto the keypad.

"Captain Black?" he asked, after his friend picked up. "Can you tell me which hospital?"

**/Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks everyone for your interest in the story, also for correcting me in regards to some spelling errors and the American schooling system! This is a short wee chapter. I planned on doing one chapter from Jackie's point of view, and then one from Valmont, etc. But we'll see how it goes.  
**

**Chapter 2**

The pain was terrible. No, it wasn't pain. It was something else. Something in the abdomen. Some hideous, overwhelming slime; a creature which had rooted itself in his stomach and was slowly devouring his liver, his intestines, his chest...

He had to be dead. He was dead... wasn't he?

There was a faint sound, the dull murmur of voices, like listening from beneath bathwater - low irregular beeping and the squish of tasteless shoes on a linoleum floor.

No, it was clear. He was alive. Barely, but he was alive.

..._No!_

His body erupted. Bile flooded his mouth, he choked, gagged, jerked, the pain hit him like a thousand angry fists trying to escape the confines of his fleshy prison. It was agony.

No, no, please let it end. Please let this be some kind of hell, some sort of afterlife, not this pathetic, worthless, _human_ existence he had tried to escape.

A pair of small hands grasped his shoulders firmly and pinned him down.

"Carrie-Anne! Carrie-Anne!"

A second, rougher pair of hands grabbed his legs.

"Be still, sir."

He tried to swallow the acidic, putrid bile. It stuck, and someone held something plastic to his mouth. The icy cool of water flooded his mouth and he choked again.

"Sir, you must drink. Be steady now and take a drink, you're extremely dehydrated."

He succumbed. The water was so cold. It gushed down his throat, it overpowered him. Surely his body was only being together by bits of thread. He was so weak. He felt so, so weak.

"What's the patient's name?"

"There was no name, Carrie. He was a squatter in some empty flats in the Loin. It was a couple of hobos that called the ambulance."

"And they didn't know his name?"

"No..." There was a rustling of paper. "...They said he was a foreigner. Carrie, he might not even speak English..."

"Could be, he doesn't look like a local, does he..."

He let himself dissolve into the sheets. Hopefully, by some divine right, if it existed, they would just euthanise him and then it would all be done. Though God forbid the last words he ever heard would be from those vile San Franciscan accents...

He tried to breathe through his mouth. A low, hoarse croak emitted from his throat.

"Ah, is he trying to talk?"

"Sir, do you understand us? My name is Carrie-Anne; I am a nurse at the San Francisco General Hospital. My assistance Theresa and I are looking after you. Your body has gone through a very difficult, uh, time... We're going to do our best to, uh, to get you better."

Pitiful, useless wenches...

_How did it ever get so bad? Slumming it down in the dregs of San Francisco, how on earth are you going to get those extra dollars to afford that bottle of gin...? It'll have to be beer tonight..._

"...there was one man who asked to see him this morning but otherwise he..."

_But there was no divide between night and day, just a senseless blur of drink and drugs; stumbling through the back alleys; even the whores wouldn't let you near them, how far have you fallen Valmont... _

"...no name..."

_Maybe I can steal the money, not so far fallen to sell my body, just want a drink, knock it back like it was your only lifeline, oh wait it is your only lifeline..._

"He'll probably be here for another week or so to recover." There was more flicking of sheets and muttering. "Then we'll just have to put him back on the streets again, unless someone claims him."

"He's not a dog, Carrie-Anne."

There were a few sniggers and then the sound of their footsteps faded away beneath the slow beep of the machinery.

Valmont listened until he could hear no more, and let his muscles melt beneath him, into the sheets, his skin opening up and slipping over the sides of the bed as his body seemed to unravel from exhaustion from the inside. His eyelids fluttered as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, sleep stealing consciousness as easy as a hand plucking a flower from a tree.

Hopefully, _hopefully..._ he'd be dead before he woke again.

**/Chapter 2**

I hope it won't take me as long this time to update again. Please leave a review and make sure to keep an eye for when I update!


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone, thanks for your reviews and continued support! Here (finally) is Chapter Three of the story. The lat part was sort of written in a rush to get it uploaded so if there are any spelling mistakes or other errors, greatest apologies. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Jackie woke on the Wednesday morning and knew within five minutes that it was going to be a bad day.

He had slept in to twenty past ten with all the sheets flung off his bed. His body was covered in sweat and his head felt a few sizes too big. On his way to the bathroom, he was vaguely aware that his body was in some sort of discomfort, and didn't realise for another good half an hour that he was wearing his slippers on the wrong feet.

"Jade, will you make me a cup of tea?" he yawned over the kitchen table, unsuccessfully trying to direct his right slipper onto his right foot.

"No milk," said Jade, without looking up from her Gameboy.

"I'll have it without milk then,"

"No teabags either."

"Then I'll have a cup of hot water with a little slice of lemon in it."

"Can't you make it yourself?"

Supressing a groan, Jackie dragged himself around the kitchen, finding it in a complete tip as per usual. He found a lemon in the fridge but it was mouldy, so he reluctantly poured himself a glass of Jade's coke.

"Where's Uncle?" he called.

"In bed."

Jackie sighed. "Figures."

Uncle had been opening the shop later and later these days – some days he didn't even open it at all. He looked just like Jackie felt – tired. Maybe they were both just getting old, well, in Uncle's case, older. The man didn't seem to care as much as he used to about customers, sales, or anything else other than sitting around reading books about Titian.

Jackie had just taken a mouthful of coke, when a sudden realisation hit him and he spat it out all over his front.

"Jade!" he shouted, running to the living room door. "Why aren't you in school?"

Jade looked up with her best innocent doe-eyed expression arranged carefully on her face. "Nobody got up to bring me."

"You can _walk_ to school like you always do; it's only five minutes away!"

"Uh, _hello_?" Jade walked to the front door and flung it open. A bolt of lightning clashed theatrically across the sky. Thick storm clouds coated the skies and a relentless downpour was showering the streets with rain.

"Don't you have a couple of dollars to get a taxi?" mumbled Jackie as he crossed to the door to shut it closed against the misery of the morning weather.

"Hmm," said Jade. "Don't think so."

Wondering how he had managed to raise his niece into such a little liar, Jackie fished about his pockets for some change, which he then reluctantly handed to Jade.

"I'll call the taxi now, don't ever do this again, do you understand?"

"Yes, Uncle Jackie," she chimed, the gleam in her eyes an indication that she knew she had got away with it this time. Jackie rifled through the various notes, shopping lists and good Chi spells pinned the noticeboard before finding the number for a relatively cheap taxi. Before he turned away one particular note seemed to leap off the board and splat itself right between his eyes – the number for the San Francisco General Hospital. Jackie swallowed uncomfortably and called Jade's taxi.

"Yes... yes, as soon as possible please. Chan, that's right... Thank you." He hung up the phone. "Jade, get your schoolbag together."

"It's together – hey!"

Jackie snatched Jade's rucksack out of her hands.

"What the – Jade! There's not even a single book in here!"

"They provide them at school!" Jade snapped, trying to retrieve her backpack to no avail. "_Jackie_, give it back!"

"And do they provide pens for you too? Paper? Jade really, this isn't acceptable. You have everything in here but the things you need for school! How are these comics going to help you get your grades? Or these games? Or this – what even is this...?"

Jade tried to snatch the item out of his hand, but only managed to slap it onto the floor, where the lid cracked open and they were both left staring at a tube of cheap, sparkly pink lipstick.

"Is that...?"

"No!" Jade grabbed both her bag and the offending tube, deliberately not meeting her Uncle's eye. He could see she had turned a several different shades of red. "Is that the taxi I hear? OK Jackie, I better go, see you later!"

"Jade–"

The front door slammed.

"Err, see you..."

As the taxi obviously hadn't arrived and Jade hadn't thought her get-away plan through properly, Jackie fetched the umbrella and silently passed it out the door to his niece. He watched her for a few more minutes as she stood out in the rain. _Lipstick_? She was still so small she could barely even hold the umbrella up over her head, and she was wearing _lipstick_?

He waited until Jade had got into the taxi. He had intended to escort her personally to the school doors to make sure she wasn't playing truant, but considering the circumstances...

The '_circumstances_' – what on earth was he talking about? Jade was a pre-teen girl, she would be hitting puberty sooner than later. He had hardly expected her to be raving about Moose-world or Marvel comics for her entire life, did he? She would be buying lipstick, maybe trying on heels and going on dates with boys, like every other young teenager. It was natural right? Every father went through this with his daughter. Not that he was Jade's father, per say...

Jackie massaged his aching temples and suppressed another groan. He _knew_ that today was going to be a bad day.

The phone still in his hand, he lifted the number for the hospital and stared at it thoughtfully. He _had_ told Captain Black several days ago that he would at least call. He dialled and waited.

"_Good morning, San Francisco General Hospital–_"

"Yes, hello–"

"-_unfortunately all our lines are busy at the current moment. Please hold._"

"Uh, um..."

A vile Kenny G track lilted through the phone, and Jackie sighed. He glanced out at the blustering storm outside and definitely decided against going down to the hospital himself.

"_Thank you for holding the line–_"

"Oh yes, hello, I was wondering if–"

"_-we are sorry, all our lines are busy at the current moment. Please continue to hold. You are caller number 8 in the queue._"

Kenny G returned and Jackie sighed again, hanging up. There was a creak on the stairs, and he turned, having to immediately quell the urge to cringe and shudder. Uncle was wearing a very short, very thin silk house-coat, and he wasn't wearing anything else.

"Jackie!" he howled. "It's too early for all this shrieking and yelling! One more thing, you used up _all_ the teabags! How can Uncle concentrate when–"

"You could've told me yesterday we had run out, I would've bought some!"

"One more thing," he continued. "We need _mouse traps_."

Jackie scoffed. "There are no mice in this house."

"I have seen them," argued Uncle. "They leave crumbs everywhere and–"

"That's just Jade and Tohru, Uncle," interrupted Jackie, rubbing his aching temples. Listening to Uncle's voice was like having rusty nails hammered into his already pounding skull. He went into the kitchen, begging and praying there would be the one tiny thing knew he needed. But when he rifled through the cupboards, there weren't any coffee granules either.

"I'm going to get some groceries," he announced, grabbing his coat – anything to get out of the house. Five minutes later he was still huddled in the next door neighbour's doorway, the rain beating down like freezing little pellets, before he decided he didn't really care this morning, and started heading his way into town through the shower. He was soaked to the skin within seconds.

He knew he wasn't out with the intention of getting groceries. The image had returned to his mind – not of Captain Black's voice or his steely look as he told Jackie about their old enemy in hospital – but the man himself, the back of his white-blond head, the strong stance of his posture, the wind blustering around them on the top of Mount Rushmore. And then there was a blur, a splash of sludge on this picture of strength and masculinity – and all he could see was the whiskered, ragged face, the lingering scent of booze and sweat, those blue eyes, averting from his in shame...

The San Francisco General Hospital was on the other side of town, but from years of experience darting through the streets some way or another, Jackie knew the shortcuts and arrived shortly after eleven. Reception was packed, and Jackie stood for several minutes in the queue. He kept turning on his heel, meaning to walk out and walk away before he made some sort of fatal error in visiting his hospitalised ex-foe, but every time, he turned back and re-joined the queue.

The receptionist didn't even look up as he eventually stepped up to the counter. She was a heavy-set middle-aged woman who looked like she had no time for nonsense. She was stapling several forms together in a rush when Jackie cleared his throat nervously. "I um, I'm here to visit someone."

"Ward?"

"Um, I'm not sure..."

She sighed as she filed her forms away and started on a new pile. "Name then?"

"Valmont..." Jackie paused. Wait, was Valmont his first name or his surname? It seemed a bit... posh for a first name, but wasn't Valmont some estate-owning English millionaire or something? Maybe that's the sort of names rich English people give their children? On the other hand, how could he tell the receptionist he was visiting 'Mr Valmont'? He'd sound far too suspicious... which he was, but that's besides the point.

Wait...wait... didn't Captain Black say he'd admitted himself with a fake name? Oh for...

"Wait, um, I'm err... not sure... Valmont I think?"

The receptionist finally looked up and regarded him sharply.

"You don't know the ward, and you don't know the patient's name? You can't expect me to let you into this hospital, can you?"

"No! I do know his name, but I don't think he may have given his real one."

"Well what's his name then?"

"Valmont."

"Valmont what? Is that a first name or a surname?"

Jackie winced. She was talking very loudly and many eyes in the foyer were watching.

"Listen," he tried again. "Maybe you can help me then. I'm very concerned about his health; he's uh... he um, used to work with me. I'd heard a rumour that he had been admitted to hospital–"

"I cannot give out any information on patients, sir," said the receptionist shortly. She lifted a large bunch of papers and slammed them down on the counter. Jackie took a step backwards. Even he could tell when a conversation had been closed.

The rain was still beating down, and as he stepped outside he was nearly stampeded down by a fresh wave of patients rushing in from a smoking break. He pulled his collar up around his neck and moved along under the front ledge of the building for some shelter when a spectacularly cheeky idea occurred to him and with a quick glance around, darted into the alley that ran alongside the east wall of the building. It was a small crevice between the hospital and the neighbouring building, the only things fitting being some old dumpsters, and there was a particularly foul smell which nearly made him gag. He inhaled, with difficulty, and then scaled the walls easily and slipped into an open window on the second floor.

Luckily the corridor was empty. Jackie took one step forward and slipped, his wet shoes skidding on the polished floor. He jumped upright and exhaled shakily. Where the _hell_ would he even start?

"Drunk himself to a stupor... where would they put him...?"

He crossed over to a large dark sign over one of the corridor doorways and began reading off the services.

"Bereavement... no. Cardiology? What's that? Derma...dermatology... no idea what that is either... General surgery?"

He paused. That seemed like a good place to begin.

It took surprisingly less time than he expected to find Valmont, considering his nerves and lack of hope. Actually he almost missed him, when he popped his head around one of the doors and saw a curtained off bed in the corner of a room of relatively well-groomed men. It seemed to be some sort of visiting hours, so he slipped through the throngs of families down to the end of the room, in front of this bed.

Valmont had once been a proud man. He couldn't have had people _looking_ at him in his state, right? Didn't that make sense?

Jackie stood idly in front of the bed, wondering how the heck he could open the curtains without a huge catastrophe, when the sound of a toilet flushing met his ears and the bathroom door beside him opened and Valmont stepped out.

The next 10 seconds seemed to pass like an hour. Their eyes met and Jackie seemed to freeze on the spot. Asides from the shock of facing his old rival, he was surprised to find him in not such a bad condition as he expected. His long fair hair had been sheared short, and there was no beard or whiskers left on the Englishman's face. He looked tired however, exhausted actually, his eyes were sunken and he was unhealthily thin.

Valmont's sunken eyes suddenly took new life. "...Chan?"

Jackie opened his mouth to reply, but only managed a faint "Glahhh?"

The sound seemed to whip Valmont into a terrible fury.

"GET OUT!" he shrieked, and Jackie's heart nearly leapt out of his chest in shock. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"

Five minutes later, security had thrown him out of the hospital. He was quite lucky to have avoided the eyes of the bulky receptionist from earlier or he suspected she probably would've had the police called for breaking into a hospital. He stood outside for a few minutes, trying to calm himself down, his heart pounding in his chest.

At least the rain had stopped.

* * *

Captain Black sipped his black Americano. He didn't usually spend the working day outside Section 13, but when Jackie had called him, the man had sounded frantic, and he had quickly left his second in command in charge and left. After he had himself sped across San Francisco in their fastest four-wheeled transportation under red and blue sirens, he felt like strangling his Asian friend. The man had called him in a panic, because he had been _shouted at_.

_Diddums._

He obviously refrained from speaking his mind as he listened to Jackie's tirade, nodding at random intervals and sipping his coffee, feeling a bit like a woman lending an ear to a female friend with dude problems.

"Why would you have sent me up there to be shouted at?" Jackie mumbled. He downed his coffee and ordered another. Captain Black raised an eyebrow.

"I only told you where he was," he said. "I didn't order you to visit him."

Jackie snorted. He took a slurp of his new coffee and burnt the inside of his mouth.

"_Owwwww_!"

"Calm down Jackie," said Captain Black. His phone bleeped in his pocket. "Excuse me."

As Captain Black went out to take the call, Jackie ordered a jug of water and tried to take his friend's advice. They were in a small diner just down the street from the hospital that Jackie had just been thrown out of. He had already drunk three black coffees, not his usual beverage, to try and clear his nerves a bit. It was working a bit, but he was still agitated.

"Where did he get those clothes from?" he asked Captain Black absently as the latter sat back down. "He was wearing pjamas and a new dressing gown, and slippers too. I thought hospitals only provided those open back shirt things."

"Section 13 provided his clothing."

"Oh I see... wait, what?"

"I told you we had an agent in there," said Captain Black. "Actually the staff complained. When he came in he was in such a nasty state, covered in lice and stinking to the high heavens. Once they had given him all the medication they could, they were ready to chuck him straight out onto the streets again. I gave the order not to let that happen. So we funded his treatment, paid for him to be cleaned up, got him kitted out in new clothes–"

"B-but _why_?" Jackie interrupted. "Captain Black, you _hate_ Valmont. He's given Section 13 so much trouble. Remember that he put _you_ in hospital too!"

"Would you rather he had been thrown back into the hell he came out of?"

Jackie's chest clenched. "No... no, of course not."

"That's why," said Captain Black quietly. "Because I knew you, Jackie, would not accept us leaving a man to die." He paused. "Even if that had been his intention..."

Jackie stared. "You mean... he..."

Captain Black's mouth twisted as if he tasted something nasty, and he nodded. Jackie sat very still in his seat for a moment, his entire body seeming to have frozen with this unpleasant revelation. He leapt suddenly to his feet and ran into the toilets. Captain Black followed, and stood outside the cubicle with his forehead resting against its surface, listening to his friend wretch violently inside.

"There's another problem, Jackie," he called. "Valmont can't stay there forever."

The toilet flushed and Jackie emerged, his eyes watering from the exertion on his body.

"Ugh," he muttered. "That is... that was grim."

"Did you hear me?" asked Captain Black.

"Yes." He ran the tap and rinsed his mouth out. "Where is he going to go? You said you wouldn't put him back on the streets..."

"Prison," said Captain Black shortly. "That's where he should go."

_But would you send a suicidal man to prison?_

"But...?"

"The other option," said Captain Black "is sending him to a rehabilitation unit. There he can receive help for alcohol and drug abuse and other general offence issues, and then they can start re-integrating him into society. That would be the ideal route to put him on."

Jackie waited for the inevitable 'but'.

"But," Captain Black continued "those programmes are voluntary. Something tells me Valmont's pride will not have him endure that sort of treatment which belittles him. Nor would he be interested in re-integrating into San Franciscan society. He is – was – a rich man of incredible social superiority, always believing himself to be above the law of the common man."

Jackie washed his hands slowly. "Can't you take him in Section 13?"

"Valmont is a criminal mastermind, Jackie. I wouldn't risk it."

A man came into the toilets, jumped, and ran back out. Captain Black sniggered.

"I'll buy you another coffee, Jackie, come on."

"No... no, thank you, I think I should go home."

"I insist," said Captain Black firmly. "We have more to talk about."

Jackie knew immediately what was coming.

"You want me to take him in."

"...Let's get another coffee."

* * *

Morning had passed into afternoon, and afternoon was dwindling into evening, and Jackie and Captain Black still sat in that same diner near the hospital. They spoke sometimes, sometimes just sitting in silence. The young woman who worked behind the counter had been watching them curiously for some time, noticing that they seemed very agitated. The Asian man kept running his hands through his hair and shaking his dark head. Every time he did this, his bald companion would order him another coffee.

"Jade," said Jackie, for perhaps the fifth time. "I can't have him living in the same house as Jade, I'm sorry Captain Black."

"But otherwise you would take him in?"

"Yes, well, I don't know... He wouldn't want to stay, I promise you that, after the way he reacted in the hospital, after everything we've all been through..."

Captain Black sat back in his seat and pursed his mouth. "It's funny about Jade."

"What?"

"It is completely natural and commendable that as her parent you would want to protect Jade from harm–"

"I'm not Jade's parent."

"–but as I recall, Jade has never been a target for the Dark Hand unless she has put herself in their path, whether by accident or on purpose, though I can imagine which one is most prevalent." He rolled his eyes. "It might also be interesting to hypothesise that Valmont, having experienced the consequences of your protectiveness over Jade, knows already that that is a boundary he cannot cross."

Jackie shook his head, but said nothing. He gripped his coffee cup with two hands. This was crazy. It was oh so crazy.

"Besides," Captain Black went on. "If I remember correctly, the Dark Hand couldn't stand Jade. In fact anytime she turned up, which was every time, they did their best to get her out of the way. Without harm, isn't that right?"

Jackie didn't even have the energy to pretend to disagree. He inhaled shakily and raised his dark eyes to Captain Black's green ones. A line of communication seemed to pass between them and Captain Black smiled. Jackie returned the gesture and finished off the rest of his coffee.

"So where do I start?"

* * *

**/Chapter Three**


End file.
